Bag for merchandising



March 1949. s. A. M OORE 5 BAG FOR MERCHANDISING Filed March 16, 1946 INVENTOR GEOREE ARI/N672? Hm ATTORNEYS latented Mar. 8, 1949 v 2,463,992 BAG For: nmaonanmsmc George Arlington Moore, New' York, N.-Y., as-

si 'noi to Reynolds Metals Company, Richmond, Va., a corporation of Delaware A Application March 16, 1946, Serial No. 654,851

,/ 1 8 Claims.

This invention relates to packages for merchandise and has for its object the provision of a semi-rigid package formed in part of clear sheet material through which the merchandise may be seen. The invention provides a semirigid package having a foldable but stiff supporting cradle attached to the bag. Bags having front and rear side panels, end gussets and a mouth defined by the free edges of the panels are the type most suitable for the invention. I prefer to form the bag of clear sheet material provided with a heat-sealing'material, such; as the 'so-called self-sealing-cellophane or Pliofilm.

'In one of its aspects the invention provides a cradle formed of a laminated sheet material comprising a core of paper with an exterior covering of metal foil for use in supporting a bag. Advantageously, the metal foil is a soft metal, such as lead, copper or'aluminum, which is non-resilient, giving the laminated sheet the property of remaining where bent, especially when provided with score. lines. The cradle of the invention accordingly comprises a single sheet of laminated material, including at least one exterior layer of metal foil, which is'so out and scorelined that it may be folded for attachment to the exterior of a gusset type bag. The cradle has a closure portion for attachment to and sealing of the mouth of the bag which is so proportioned that it will extend an appreciable distance above the bag mouth. One of the important features of the cradle is that the closure provides a means for hermetically sealing the bag mouth after filling and also as a sort of valve for opening and closing the bag during use. The closure may be folded upon itself one or more times to close the bag and the non-resiliency of-the sheet material causes it to remain as folded.

The invention provides an improved package which is semi-rigid and through which the merchandise may be seen; It has an hermetically sealed mouth which may be openedby the consumer and thereafter closed and opened any number of times for the removal of portions of merchandise from the package.

One of the important features of the invention is that the package as made by the manufacturer may be folded into a perfectly flat position for storage and shipment. This feature is accomplished by so forming the cradle that it has a flat back with foldable end panels and a closure portion which is an extension of the back. when the sides are folded into parallelism with the flat back, the side portions bonded to the gussets of the bag and the closure attached to the rear panel at the mouth edge-, the manufacture is complete. The package thus made has an open mouth and may be flattened for shipment to the packer who. fills the package with merchandise.

I prefer to so proportion the closure of the cradle thatit may be folded over upon itself. I apply a strip of adhesive. to each exterior surface, one strip serving to seal the rear panel of the bag to the closure in the initial manufacture and the other strip serving to seal the front panel to the closure when the bag is fllled. Ad-

vantageously, the rear panel is sealed between the folded closure and the front panel is sealed to the outside of the closure just inside the extreme edge, leaving a free lip to facilitate opening the mouth of the bag.

These and other novel features of the invention will be better understood'after considering the following. discussion taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

' Fig. 1 is a perspective of a package embodying the invention;

b Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmetary view at the month of the bag of Fig. 1 showing the gusset fold;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a cradle in its flat position;

Fig/4 is a perspective of the cradle in a folded position; a

Fig. 5 is a perspective of the package sembled for shipment, and

Fig. 6 is a viewalong linefi-B of Fig. 5. The bag illustrated in the drawings comprises two principal parts-a cradle I formed of lamias asnated sheet material, and a bag 2 of the gusset I section 6 and end sections 1 and 8. The pro- The aluminum 3 in the folded position shown in Fig. 1, and this provides a means for folding'the closure over itself, as will later be explained. Three strips of adhesive mateiiial, such as thermoplastic ethyl or nitr c-cellulose, are applied to the closure, the strip is along one side for attaching. the rear aeeaoaa v one direction than in panel of the bag between the folded closure in its initial assembly, and the strips it and l? on opposite sides near the free endof the closure for attaching to both the front panel andthe rear panel of the bag when the closure is inserted into the bag mouth after the bag has been filled with merchandise. The gusset type bag, of more or less rectangular cross-sectional shape when opened, comprises a front panel 26, a rear panel 2i, end gussets 22 and 23, a bottom at, and a mouth defined by the edge 25 s In manufacturinga package of the invention,

the laminated sheet materialmay be provided in great lengths, such as large rolls, and the material may be run through an operation for the forming of the score lines, the application of.

the thermoplasticstrips, printing as withigravure.

printing, and thecutting into the fiat sheets I as shown in "Fig. 3. The bags of the invention, preferably formed of the heat-sealing cellophane, are opened and held in the open position by a mandrel or other means while the cradle is placed thereover. By means of heat and pressure, the gussets 22 and 23 are pressed into sealing contact with the end sections 1 and 8, respectively, of the cradle. In-the same operation, the closure 9 is foldedover the upper edge portion of the back panel 2| and the adhesive strip 95 is pressed into heat-sealing contact with the panel.

As thus formed, the sealing strips i6 and H. are free and unattached to the front panel. The

packages as initially formed, may be flattened merely by pushing the end sections 1 and 8 invwardly. The packages may, accordingly, be piled one over the other for shipment to the packer.

'Ifhe packer may fill the bags in the usual way. either manually or by the insertion of the spout of amechanical bag filler into, the open mouth of the package. The filled package is ready for final scaling in any'suitable manner. It,may be placed on a conveyor and passed between heated pressure rollers which press the free edge of the front panel 20 into heat-sealing contact with the thermoplastic strips l8 and it. .By reason of the heat-sealing properties of the cellophane, those portions of the bag which are folded upon themselves atthe edges of the closure .as shown in Fig. 2, become fused together and the entire bag is hermetically sealed.

I prefer to so position the strips I 6 and H with respect to the upper ,edge 25 of the bag mouth that the strips fall a-short distance therebelow when sealed, leaving the mouth with a free unsealed lip 26 by means bf which the panel edge may be grasped in the fingers and pulled from the adhesive toopen the bag along the front. In view of the thermoplastic properties of the adhesive, it is not adhesive at ordinary temperatures and does not seal the bag after it has been opened, but when the projecting. portion is folded upon itself along the coincident score lines I! and I3 and then over the open mouth, the bag is closed, in which position it remains by reason of the non-resilient character of the laminated material forming the cradle. The package may be opened and closed repeatedly by means of the closure. is

By reason of the way cellophane is manufactured, it has a much greater tensile strength in 4 the other with the result that one edge is weak and easily split while the other is tough. When using cellophane, I.prei er to arrange the sheet with the tough dge forming the mouth, thereby facilitating opening the bagwithout injury. 1

-:One'.of the important features of my invention is that the metal foil lends itself admirably to very beautiful and distinctive printing, such as gravure printing, and coloring, such, as by anodizing and dyeing. I take advantage of these properties and utilize the available space of the supporting back and end panels, as well as the projecting closure for display purposes. Printed cellophane costs about double the cost of unprinted cellophane and my invention enables me to derive the benefit of a clear package while at the same time providing a semi-rigid package withcoloring and printing having good attention value. To this end, ,I may print such material as trade-names, material identification, directions, manuf-acturers name etcq upon the cradle. The cradle, therefore, serves the purpose of providing rigidity in a semi-rigid package, means of hermetically sealing the mouth of the packe by the packer, and as a sort of valve by means of which the user may open and close the package repeatedly during use.

I claim: V

1. A semi-rigid commercial package which comprises a bag of the gusset type formed of clear heat-sealing sheet material which, in its expanded position, is generally rectangular in cross-section, said bag having front and rear panels and gusset end panels with a mouth defined by the free edges of the'panls, a cradle for supporting the bag formed of laminated sheet material comprising a sheet of paper and at least one layer of soft metal foil bonded to the paper, said cradlehaving fiat section-portions bonded to the'bag whereby at least one panel issupported in a rigid position, a mouth closure on the cradle being proportioned to extend above the mouth to serve for display purposes and having score lines for folding to close and open the mouth and at least three strips of thermoplastic adhesive, one of said strips permanently sealing the rear panel at the mouth to the cradle closure, two of said strips of adhesive being on opposite sides of the closure near its end whereby, on folding the, closure upon itself, one strip of adhesive seals the closure to the inside of the rear panel and the opposite strip of adhesive seals the inside of the front panel to the closure, the folded closure projecting above the mouth. I

2. A'semi-rigid commercial package according to claim 1 which comprises a cradle of flat, still but non-resilient sheet material said mouth closure having score lines and when folded remaining in that position by reason of its non-resilient character, thereby holding the mouth closed following repeated openings of the bag during use.

3. A semi-rigid commercial package which comprises a bag of the gusset type having front and rear panels and gusset end panels formed of clear heat-sealing sheet material, and a cradle of flat, still but non-resilient sheet material bonded to at least one panel of the bag whereby the bag may be supportedin an upright position and the merchandise be seen through a substantial portion of the bag, said cradle having a mouth closure which projects above the bag when the bag sealed near its end, said closure being folded upon itself to bring ,the strips of adhesive into contact with the front and back panels of the bag at the mouth and to leave an unsealed edge on the front panel so that it may be pulled from the adhesive to open the bag, said closure having at least one transverse score line located above the strip of thermoplastic material and being further foldable upon itself to close the bag during use.

4. A semi-rigid commercial package which comprises a bag of the gusset type having front and rear side panels and gusset end panels formed of clear heat-sealing sheet material, the free edges of the panels defining the bag mouth, a cradle formed of flat, stiff but non-resilient sheet material bonded to at least the end panels of the bag, a mouth closure on the cradle which extends an appreciable distanc beyond the bag mouth and is folded over upon itself to a fiat position, a strip of adhesive inside the closure bonding the exterior free edge portion of the back panel to the closure, a strip of thermoplastic adhesive material on the exterior surface of the closure to which the inside of the front panel may be sealed, and means for folding the closure to close and open the package during use.

5. A semi-rigid commercial package which comprises a bag of the gusset type formed of clear heat-sealing sheet material which, in its expanded position, is generally rectangular in cross-section, said bag having front and back side panels and gusset end panels with a mouth defined by the free edges of the panels, a cradle for supporting part of the bag formed of laminated sheet material comprising a sheet of paper and at least one layer of soft metal foil bonded to the paper, said cradle being so shaped and provided with score lines as to form a foldable mouth closure, a main section and end sections separated by score lines from the main section, the gusset panels of the bag being attached to the end sections and the back panel at the mouth edge being sealed to the closure, the score lines between the end sections and the main section permitting the end sections to be folded into parallelism with the main section when the package is collapsed or to be set 7. A semi-rigid package according claim 5 which comprises a cradle formed of laminated material having a core of paper and a sheet of aluminum foil bonded to each flat exterior surface of the paper.

8. A semi-rigid package according to claim 5 which comprises a strip of thermoplastic adhesive bonding the back panel at the mouth to the closure, and another strip of thermoplastic adhesive on the closure by means of which the front panel is sealed to the closure when the bag is filled.

GEORGE ARLINGTON MOORE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,217,818 Peterson Feb. 27, 1917 1,923,452 Neumiller Aug. 22, 1933 1,968,981 Baker Aug. 7, 1934 2,177,918 Vogt et a1 Oct. 31, 1939 2,312,280 Avery Feb. 23, 1943 2,325,921 Salflsberg Aug. 3, 1943 

